Wood Green Community Services Financial Empowerment Successful Approaches

Wood. Green Community Services Financial Empowerment- Successful Approaches Stephen Vanderherberg, Director Strategic Initiatives May 25 th, 2018

Wood. Green Community Services Organizational Overview • Wood. Green Community Services (Toronto, ON) – Multi-Service Agency (i. e housing, employment, newcomer, seniors, mental health, etc. ) – 75 programs, 700+ staff • Financial Empowerment – Income Tax Clinics (7500 returns in 2017) – Counselling (1000+ clients) – Financial Literacy

Wood. Green Community Services Target Financial Empowerment • Low income individuals & families with barriers • Address financial barriers; Increase financial skills and capacity • Grow to 15, 000 clients/yr by 2022 Journey • 33% growth year over year since 2011 • Tax Clinics to Counselling • Experimentation & Innovation Approach • Co-Design • Partnerships • Client-centric

Wood. Green Community Services Challenges to Financial Security • Complexity of Personal Situations – Documentation, debt, back-taxes, relationship breakdowns • Ease of Access – Navigating systems, appropriate financial products, personal confidence • Low Financial Literacy – Low literacy levels, cognitive barriers, negative association • Need for affirming positive social interactions

Wood. Green Community Services Successful Approach 1: Volunteer Empowerment • 200+ volunteers, Pyramid model • Co-location: Toronto Public Library, Social Housing, etc. • $17 M in Benefits and Returns • Positive Social Interactions

Wood. Green Community Services Successful Approach 2: Tax + Counselling • Triaging complex situations • One-on-One Support – Tax advocacy, debt, documentation, benefits access, budgeting • Social Work Approach, Action-oriented • Supportive environment to navigate systems

Wood. Green Community Services Stephen Vanderherberg, Director, Strategic Initiatives www. woodgreen. org Svanderherberg@woodgreen. org